A Mixed Bag

I have a few movie reviews to post but first I want to mention that recently I have read the 8th and final book of the Jaz Parks series. Although it is sad to see the end of Jaz, Vayl, Bergman, Cassandra, Cole and the other memebers of their trust, not to mention Jaz's many, many personalities I feel that they all went out with a bang. Jennifer Rardin brought to life one of the most vivacious and real bad creature hunters I've ever read about. Jaz Parks has become a favorite of mine and I will continue to go back and read her over and over again. If you are looking for a fun, whimsical, off kilter read pick up the first of the Jaz Parks series by Jennifer Rardin "Once Bitten, Twice Shy." It's a laugh out loud, loveable take on the paranormal genre. Give it a try.

Movie time. I watched a couple of the new movies that are coming out this week and was pleasantly surprised. I watched "The Adjustment Bureau" the big thriller starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, "Unknown" the new Liam Neeson, and a sweet little drama called "HappyThankYouMorePlease." I went into watching all of them with no expectations and ended up being surprised by all three of them.

"HappyThankYouMorePlease" was written, directed and starred Josh Radnor. A group of friends living in New York just kind of exsist. Josh Radnor plays Sam Wexler a struggling writer trying to go from writing short stories to a full length novel. On his way to meeting with a publisher he meets Rasheen a young boy who has been seperated from his foster mother. When Sam takes Rasheen in hoping that he can help Rasheen get back to his foster family the dynamics of his life begin to change. As he keeps putting off taking Rasheen into child services Sam finds himself starting to grow up. The friends that he surounds himself with find that they need to grow up as well.

The stories are simple and just disjointed enough that it is almost vignette like. But at the same time they all fit together seamlessly. It's a quircky cynical yet sweet movie that I really liked. It's not a main stream movie at all. It's something that is just slightly off kilter and almost a sleeper. I know that I didn't go into much detail about the film but I think this is a movie that needs to be seen, the movie is made in such a way that the greatness is sort of folded in. I hope you go out and rent it. It's not something you see everyday. And with what has been coming out lately I find that to be a refreshing thing indeed.

"Unknown" starring Liam Neeson and Diane Kruger is a thriller that is slow to start. Actually for most of the movie the story is pretty slow. And though there is some action it seems forced and awkward, I find that Liam Neeson is starting to get a little old for high action sequences and yet he trudges on. Liam Neeson and January Jones play Dr. and Mrs. Martin Harris. Heading to Berlin for a conference the couple get seperated when Dr. Martin realizes he left his briefcase at the airport and hops in a cab to go get it. The cab gets into an accident and Martin wakes up in the hospital four days later. All he remembers is that his name is Martin Harris he is a botoanist and his wife is waiting for him. When he goes to his hotel and finds his wife she claims to not know him. Things go from weird to downright bizarre when Aidan Quinn shows up and introduces himself as Dr. Martin Harris. 

Ostricized and alone in a strange city Martin begins searching for clues. Narrowly escaping death time after time he meets up with the woman, Gina, who was driving the cab he was in when he crashed. Together they race through Berlin trying to piece together who Martin really is and why all those who were once close to him have suddenly turned against him. The twists that begin to show were different then I thought they were going to be which was the pleasant surprise. As for the rest of the film it was the typical action/suspense that Liam Neeson has become so fond of doing. It's got a pleasant twist and mindless action so if that is the movie mood you are in go for it. It was well acted and well directed. Nothing super special and nothing that is going to blow anyone away but it wasn't bad at all.

"The Adjustment Bureau" I actually liked. It is based on a Phillip K. Dick story so it has a solid foundation right off. It is the story of David Norris, played by Matt Damon, a young politician from Brooklyn who on the night of his concession speech meets a fascinating woman in the men's bathroom. Although they hit it off she leaves without giving him her name or number and years go by before he sees her again. They meet again on a bus and once more hit it off amazingly. However after arriving at his new office with Elise's, played by the beautiful Emily Blunt, number in hand David stumbles upon a seen straight out of a science fiction movie. Frozen people and strange men walking around doing strange things. After being captured by them David discovers that they are the men that run the world. Not in a power play sense but literally they make the world work. They keep an eye on every human and the plan that has been laid out by "The Chairman." These men, 'The Adjusment Bureau' so to speak make sure that every person stays on his or her plan so that the world runs as it is supposed to. Although David has a hard time believing all of this they show him enough proof to make him wary. Then comes the kicker. They tell him that he was never supposed to be on that bus to get Elise's number, that in fact he was never supposed to see her again after that first night. They are not in each other's plans and therefore cannot be together no matter how much they want it. 

At first they convice David to just leave well enough alone but they promise to keep an eye on him. But after accidently running into Elise again a couple years later David decides he's not going to let some phantom plan and a group of guys in hats stop them from being together. He is warned again and again that being with Elise could mess up both their lives but David feels that their connection is too strong to stop trying. 

There is a little too much back and forth in the film, going from fighting David to giving up David back to fighting David and again back to giving up David. But the story was unusual and well thought out. Acting was superb and I found the cinematography to be captivating. The film had some great moments of suspense and action and was well written but it was a tad anti-climatic. I won't say why or how but I do want to put that out there. It's worth watching though. I thought it was a pretty good movie all in all.

Well there we have it. Yet another movie review. I think that although I am busy I will try posting a book review soon. Just finished a non-fiction that was a little mind blowing. Also I am still working on my AFI's Top 100 list. I have seen a couple more off the list and will write reviews on them shortly! Hope you find at least one movie out of this post that you find worth watching. Enjoy! 

The Newest of the New

This past weekend I actually sat down and watched a couple of full length feature films. They included a comedy "Just Go With It" and a drama called "Another Year." "True Grit" starring Jeff Bridges also came out this week but I had previously seen it so I skipped it. However there are a couple of reviews to come. 

First I shall start with the comedy. "Just Go With It" starred Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, with a surprising cameo by Nicole Kidman. Basically it is the story of Adam Sandler's character Danny Maccabee a man who many years ago was hurt by his fiancee on his wedding day. After calling the wedding off he goes to a bar to drink his sorrow away, suddenly a gorgeous woman walks into the bar. And all these men begin hitting on her, saying lewd things and annoying her. She goes to sit next to funny looking Jewish Danny Maccabee who when she inquires about the wedding ring he's wearing stumbles across the perfect pick-up line. He invents a horrible wife earning him sympathy sex. And from that moment on his life changes. He becomes a plastic surgeon gets himself a new nose and begins life as quite the playboy. 

His assistant Katherine, played by Jennifer Anniston, is a single mom with two kids who has become his best friend and the only woman in his life that he is honest with. Things begin to get complicated when he meets a woman he thinks he can actually fall in love with. When she finds his "wedding" ring and gets mad he tells her that he is in the process of a divorce. But she wants to hear it from her, his fictional wife, and so he enlists the help of Katherine. Things go from strange to weird when Katherine lets slip that she has kids and Palmer, played by Brooklyn Decker, wants to meet them. The whole thing culminates in the whole group heading to Hawaii for a bonding vacation. 

The movie had some good highlights, funny moments that had me laughing. Other then the few moments of humor "Just Go With It" written by Allan Loeb and Timothy Dowling and directed by Dennis Dugan was your typical romantic comedy. Cute but nothing special, watch for light romantic movie time. I would give it a 7 out of 10.

The drama that I watched "Another Year" written and directed by Mike Leigh and starring Jim Boradbent, Ruth Sheen and Lesley Manville was a little bit of a let down. I had been seeing previews for what looked to be a very sweet british film all about Tom and Gerri and the people in their lives. Tom and Gerri are this very sweet adoring married couple who enjoys gardening and cooking for friends and family. I was hoping that the movie would be mainly about this really adorable couple and their day to day life, how they stay in love and crazy about each other even after all the years they had been married. I knew that we would meet a variety of characters that would be slightly off that were friends of Tom and Gerri but I figured it would be mainly about them. I was wrong. It was mainly about their very weird friend Mary who has a whole host of problems that she seems unwilling to deal with. 

The movie was sweet in a way, mainly the scenes that were between Tom and Gerri. Other than that I didn't really enjoy it all that much. I went into it aware that it was going to be a slow, quiet movie so it wasn't that I was bored. It was just not all that I hoped it was going to be. The character of Mary really started annoying me and they never really explained why she was the way she was so it wasn't really about her either. It wasn't a bad movie. But it's not anything that I was jumping for joy about. I would probably give it a 5 out of 10. Well acted and some really tender, beautiful moments but it really wasn't that great.